The Whispering GM

-- Description --
An emergent narrative game can be beautiful - with players choosing their own motivations, with the characters planning and executing their own ambition, and with the dice deciding the outcomes. But an emergent table is a cultivated experience: one not everyone has figured out how to manage - and not one in which everyone has been able to play!

What is the problem blocking a table from an emergent game style - and what can you do to fix it?

Like what you're hearing? Visit the blog:
(https://clericswearringmail.blogspot.com/)
Want to get in on the conversation, yourself? Send in a voicemail on SpeakPipe:
(https://www.speakpipe.com/WhisperingGMPodcast)
...or come hang out with all of us on Discord:
⁠(https://discord.gg/kQnrK4YCCn)

-- Show Notes --
00:00 - Intro
01:05 - The Problem of Engagement
02:20 - What is "Emergent Play"?
06:53 - Leveraging Player Motivation - not Player Character Motiviation
08:58 - Crafting Player Hooks
13:47 - Ongoing Engagement
17:54 - Counterpoint: Why Play an Adventure Game if you Don't Want to Adventure?
20:05 - Pitfalls to Avoid
30:35 - Immediate Engagement: Starting Your Campaign
38:12 - In Conclusion
38:53 - Benediction: Streets of Lima
56:09 - Outro
57:14 - Theme

-- Links --
* Nobleshield on X: (https://x.com/Nobleshield/status/2076759240283435166)
* Don't Fudge the Dice (In Defense of the Screen):
- YouTube: (https://youtu.be/vSyPOM-qw3E?si=BUCTfOlvra0-dZOR)
- Spotify: (https://open.spotify.com/episode/5ulS8YKmSqQFjrT3KWEgaR)
* Purple Druid (Wargame Culture):
- Substack: (https://substack.com/@wargameculture)
- YouTube: (https://www.youtube.com/@WargameCulture)
* Best Diablo: (https://www.gog.com/en/game/diablo)
* Treasure Planet: (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0133240/)

-- Description --
How large is a dungeon in Dungeons & Dragons? How large should it be? And - when referencing old-school dungeon-delving play: at what point does the dungeon become a Mega-Dungeon?

Like what you're hearing? Visit the blog:
(https://clericswearringmail.blogspot.com/)
Want to get in on the conversation, yourself? Send in a voicemail on SpeakPipe:
(https://www.speakpipe.com/WhisperingGMPodcast)
...or come hang out with all of us on Discord:
⁠(https://discord.gg/kQnrK4YCCn)

-- Show Notes --
00:00 - Intro
00:46 - Theme
01:09 - What is a "Dungeon" and how big should it be?
08:22 - How Big should a Mega-Dungeon be?
12:36 - The Role of "Maintaining Freshness"
15:59 - What is the Difference between Dungeon and Mega-Dungeon?
17:40 - But you mentioned Lairs.
22:47 - What do You think?
24:14 - Benediction: Aug Goes to Peru
28:31 - First Days: Preventive Medicine
35:22 - Outro
40:08 - Theme

-- Links --
* Stonehell: (https://www.lulu.com/search?contributor=Michael+Curtis)
* Greyhawk Ruins: (https://rpggeek.com/rpgitem/49110/greyhawk-ruins)
* Castle Zagyg: (https://trolllord.com/product/castles-crusades-castle-zagyg-yggsburgh-classic-reprint/)
* Tegel Manor: (https://www.froggodgames.com/products/36357)

-- Description --
Paid Game Mastering: brilliant? Foolish? Or just ... odd: a peculiarity of our times.

Like what you're hearing? Visit the blog:
(https://clericswearringmail.blogspot.com/)
Want to get in on the conversation, yourself? Send in a voicemail on SpeakPipe:
(https://www.speakpipe.com/WhisperingGMPodcast)
...or come hang out with all of us on Discord:
⁠(https://discord.gg/kQnrK4YCCn)

-- Show Notes --
00:00 - Intro
00:20 - Theme
00:46 - I Don’t Hate It, but I Also Don’t Get It
07:55 - Concerns I would Have if Paying for a GM
16:24 - How about YOUR experiences?
17:15 - Personal Update and Benediction
20:48 - Outro

-- Description --
The Bag of Holding: a classic staple of D&D, a common article sought after by parties on far-afield parties, and a short circuit around one of the core elements of the game: management of inventory and encumbrance. But is it actually a bad item - or have we, as referees, simply been including it wrong?

Like what you're hearing? Visit the blog:
(https://clericswearringmail.blogspot.com/)
Want to get in on the conversation, yourself? Send in a voicemail on SpeakPipe:
(https://www.speakpipe.com/WhisperingGMPodcast)
...or come hang out with all of us on Discord:
⁠(https://discord.gg/kQnrK4YCCn)

-- Show Notes --
00:00 - Intro
00:12 - Theme
00:40 - What is the Bag of Holding - and where did it come from?
03:35 - Why a player would want one
07:27 - What's wrong with the Bag of Holding?
11:55 - But where does the Bag of Holding belong in the game?
17:30 - Benediction and Theme

-- Description --
Tourists in the OSR ecosystem: who are they, why are they here, and is it really appropriate to use the term "Tourist" as an insult?

Like what you're hearing? Visit the blog:
(https://clericswearringmail.blogspot.com/)
Want to get in on the conversation, yourself? Send in a voicemail on SpeakPipe:
(https://www.speakpipe.com/WhisperingGMPodcast)
...or come hang out with all of us on Discord:
⁠(https://discord.gg/kQnrK4YCCn)

-- Show Notes --
00:00 - Intro
00:20 - Theme
00:43 - Defining OSR and RPG Tourism
02:57 - Who is Not a Tourist
05:50 - Are Tourists a Bad Thing?
10:36 - The real threat: Transplants
12:44 - A Call for Transparency
13:42 - Call In: Riley of Diagetic Advancement on Moldvayan Revisionism
16:00 - ... Filling the Gaps in our Knowledge
17:54 - ... Keeping the Game Going
18:54 - ... Relative Digestibility
19:18 - ... Leaking In
20:26 - Call In: Hobbs, Himself! On Bronze Age gaming
20:50 - ... Blood & Bronze
25:24 - Benediction
27:00 - Outro and Theme

-- Links --
Diagetic Advancement: (https://open.spotify.com/show/35GgOCNa3LyucnrDdw0sbv)Jason "Dulcet Tones" Hobbs: - Twitch: (https://m.twitch.tv/hobbs665/home) - Hobbs & Friends: (https://hobbsnfriends.com/) - Random Screed: (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/random-screed/id1328949901)Blood and Bronze: (https://bloodandbronze.com/)